Nokia announces the N97 mini

What a start of the Nokia World 09 show! During his keynote, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Nokia President and CEO, hinted that we are going to see a variation of the Nokia flagship, the N97, and two new music-centric devices. Could this variation be the N97 Mini? Well, certainly yes! Mr. Anssi Vanjoki has stepped on stage to announce the N97's mini brother! The N97 mini is to come at a recommended retail price of about $640 (EUR 450) before taxes and subsidies, starting this October.

The new phone will come with Lifecasting with Ovi, a new service that will allow users to publish status and location updates on Facebook directly from the homescreen of the Nokia N97 mini. Lifecasting with Ovi, along with some other new software features like homescreen widgets and usability improvements like flick scrolling will also come to the N97 via free software update in October.

Specs wise, the N97 mini will justify its name with a smaller 3.2-inch tilting display, as compared to the N97's 3.5-inch one, which allows for more compact dimensions. However, except for that and the refreshed design that features stainless steel cues, other hardware changes have not been mentioned as of now. *Update*: On second thought, it is probably worth mentioning that the Nokia N97 mini's QWERTY keyboard lacks the D-pad of the N97's one.

Nokia N97 mini Specifications